Wednesday, June 01, 2005

The Story Behind Montgomery Q

It would be much easier and satisying for the viewer to see an actual site with the graphics and complete word-for-word story of Montgomery Q, the Crosscountry Dancing Menthol Cigarette, but that project hasn't been completed.

Montgomery Q is an illustrated storybook created by my friend Joel and I for our girlfriends. We recorded an ad-libbed story on tape, using all the titles of Love and Rockets songs for some reason. We tended to do odd things. There would be a click of a Snapple lid safety seal being popped when it was time to turn the page. I then illustrated it, and put the book together and gave it to them with the tape. The book still exists in Joel's archives somewhere, so once its scanned and cleaned up, it will go online for several people to enjoy.

Be warned: MQ is the dumbest story you will ever read in your lifetime. It's probably the dumbest story the human mind could create, even if we started now and were given unlimited time and resources.

Synopsis: Montgomery Q was a 6-foot living menthol cigarette. He rode a motorcycle, and discovered in his youth he was talented at ballroom dancing. At the urgings of his father (who planned to kill him) he headed to Nashville to enter a crosscountry ballroom dancing race. He wins, and the story follows his career as this odd sort of sportsman figure. He marries, has kids and the end of the story has him retiring. There's no "Rocky"-like comeback, or even a climactic race. The story is extremely entertaining for exactly 2 people (Joel, Me) and is a confusing pile of dung for all other readers.